Megan Stammers: Police ‘seized phones’ of pair days before departure

Police were investigating missing schoolgirl Megan Stammers and Jeremy Forrest’s relationship a week before they fled the country, it has been claimed, as a child protection expert reveals she had contacted education secretary
Michael Gove with concerns about the teacher’s school.

Police released CCTV images of Megan Stammers and Jeremy Forrest taken on board a ferry at 9.30pm on Friday (Picture: PA)

‘The first time police were aware of any concerns about Megan and Mr Forrest was last week and we have been liaising with the school since then,’ he said.

‘We do know that she had spoken about perhaps going somewhere.’

It has been claimed that officers were so concerned about the teacher-pupil love affair that they seized their phones, with the Mirror reporting that Megan asked to borrow a friend’s mobile as detectives had confiscated hers.

The friend’s brother is quoted as saying: ‘It was common knowledge something was going on between them. They regularly texted and flirted. Many of the girls had a crush on him.

Jeremy Forrest also accompanied Megan Stammers on a school trip to Los Angeles in February (Picture: Tim Stewart News)

‘She told him her phone had recently been taken by the police. She went on to make a number of phone calls and send texts. I can only guess she was contacting Mr Forrest.’

Megan’s stepdad revealed that he had previously worked with the maths teacher at a staff training day, saying that he seemed a ‘nice enough fellow’.

The couple, who are believed to have been dating for up to seven months, disappeared last week and have not been spotted since their CCTV capture on the ferry.

It has also emerged that Michael Gove was warned about the child protection policy at Mr Forrest’s school, with campaigner Lucy Duckworth saying she wrote to the education secretary about her fears over Bishop Bell school months ago.

Megan Stammers had crossed off ‘fall in love’ on a Tumblr bucket list (Picture: Enterprise News)

The school in Eastbourne has defended its protection policy, which is a requirement of all educational establishments that sets out a code of practice to be followed by all staff for the welfare of the children.

Head teacher Terry Boatwright said: ‘Bishop Bell School… takes safeguarding very seriously and the effectiveness of its safeguarding procedures is rated “outstanding” by Ofsted.’

However, Ms Duckworth claims the school was ‘extremely hostile’ when she asked to see its protection policy and it refused to send her a copy.

The news of Stammers’ disappearance follows a separate incident in 2009 when a PE teacher at Bishop Bell was jailed for seven years after pursuing a sexual relationship with two teenage students.

Anyone with information in the UK is asked to ring 101 citing Operation Oakwood, while a dedicated phone number (00441273 475432) and text number (+447786208090) has also been set up for those abroad.